Woman plans lawsuit over dog's death

A woman in Chengdu, Sichuan province, who suffered mental anguish after her dog was taken away and killed is expected to turn to the courts for justice.

Two attorneys from the local Taikunlyu law firm have offered to provide legal assistance to the 21-year-old dog owner, surnamed Wu, after she asked for help on Sina Weibo on Friday.

"We are collecting evidence and analyzing where the case is going," said Zhu Jieping, the director of Taikunlyu and one of the attorneys who offered Wu help. He added that it has not been decided when the case will be submitted to court.

According to Cover News, the news website that first broke the story, Wu's corgi went missing on Dec 23 and she was told by the security guard at her community that two men had taken it away. Wu learned that because of the dog's incessant barking, the men had given it to a 34-year-old woman surnamed He, the report said.

She tried to reclaim her dog through WeChat, but He demanded money and threatened to kill the dog for food, it said.

After negotiating for half a month, He was still unwilling to return the dog and so Wu posted screenshots of their WeChat conversation. Infuriated netizens targeted He, and much of her personal data was made public online, including her address.

On Thursday, Wu went to He's flat and called police after she wasn't allowed in. The corgi was then found dead on the ground next to the building.

The woman who had been keeping the dog claimed she had tried to release the corgi from her balcony on the sixth floor using a 4-meter rope and a scarf, but had unintentionally killed the animal.

According to Cover News, He apologized to the dog owner in person at the local police station on Friday but declined to apologize via media. She also expressed her intention to sue Wu for exposing her private information online.

In a Sina Weibo post later that day, Wu asked for legal assistance from law firms and insisted that He should apologize to her publicly and compensate all her losses.

Liu Lin, a lawyer at Beijing Shuangli Law Firm, said considering a corgi is an expensive breed, He's act might have violated the law of public order and management.

"Occupying or destroying someone else's property worth more than 500 yuan ($75) could lead to detention of up to 15 days and a fine," Liu said. "In this case, He is entitled to claim money from the dog owner if she returns the animal, but by declining to return the corgi and killing it she has violated the law."